Towboats Rescue Runaway Restaurant
On Friday, March 11, Jeff Ruby’s Waterfront restaurant, situated on a barge on the Ohio River, broke loose from its moorings and began floating down river, with diners trapped onboard, toward the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. According to local media the barge floated 85 feet downriver and was saved from hitting the bridge by a mooring cable that was still attached. The restaurant is two miles from where McGinnis Inc. keeps its Cincinnati fleet, but some of the company’s towboats were already working in a dock just upriver from the restaurant. The MV Susan E McGinnis arrived on the scene first.
Coast Guard, McGinniss Assist Restaurant Barge Adrift
The Coast Guard assisted local agencies with the response to a waterfront restaurant, Friday, March 11,that broke away from its mooring with 84 people onboard on the Ohio River. At approximately 10:15 p.m., watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley received a report from the Covington, Ky., Fire Department that the Jeff Ruby's Waterfront Restaurant had broken away from its mooring at mile marker 471 on the Ohio River. The barge floated approximately 85 yards downstream where it rested beneath the C.W. Bailey Bridge. The bridge was inspected by Kentucky Department of Transportation, and no damage was reported. Local towboats and firefighters from the Covington Fire Department stabilized the barge and evacuated the passengers and crewmembers from the barge.
Collision on Mississippi River, Pollution Incident
The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to a report of acrylonitrile in the Mississippi River, near mile marker 775.5, one mile north of the Hachie River inlet. At approximately 9 p.m., July 26, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Lower Mississippi River received a report from the master of the Merrick Jones, a 128-ft towing vessel pushing 26 barges, that a collision had occurred involving the Merrick Jones and the Dixie Express, an 87-ft towing barge pushing two barges of acrylonitrile. A marine and pollution investigation team from Sector Lower Mississippi River were dispatched to assess the incident. An unknown amount of acrylonitrile was released into the water after one of the barges being pushed by the Dixie Express was damaged in the incident. The source of the spill has been secured.
